Download A Natural Cholesterol-Fighter With a Low-Fat Profile

A Natural Cholesterol-Fighter
With a Low-Fat Profile
By SALLY SQUIRES
WASHINGTON POST
It’s the food that helps you feel full with just a few calories and is good enough at
lowering cholesterol to earn a heart-healthy claim from the Food and drug
Administration. Take another look at fiber, a natural ingredient in berries, beans and bran
that deserves a central place in any healthy diet.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which provide a blueprint for healthful eating and activity,
recommend consuming a variety of fruit, vegetables and whole-grain products daily. Not
only do foods such as this help your digestive system, they also generally have few
calories and quickly fill you up so you don’t overeat. They’re also rich sources of
vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Plus they’re generally low in fat and provide energy
through complex carbohydrates, which increase blood sugar levels slowly and more
evenly, resulting in less need for insulin than refined carbohydrates and highly processed
foods.
For these and other reasons, the National Cancer Institute, the National Academy of
Sciences, the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Heart Assn. Also
recommend eating plenty of fiber-rich foods daily.
Need more of an incentive? Studies suggest fiber may help reduce the risk of obesity and
may, in conjunction with a low-fat diet, help control high blood pressure. Soluble fiber—
think oatmeal—helps whisk cholesterol from the blood. Insoluble fiber---think bran and
other whole grains—helps move food more quickly through the intestine and appears to
help prevent the initial occurrence of colorectal cancer.
There are limits to fiber’s magic, however. Two recent, large clinical trials found that a
high-fiber diet did not prevent the recurrence of color polyps.
In choosing fiber sources, the real McCoy is generally better. There’s no evidence that
taking fiber supplements such as Benefiber or Metamucil provides the same wide-ranging
health benfits as eating a variety of high-fiber foods, which also contain a slew of
healthful phytonutrients.
Depending on your current diet, you may need to work a little to meet the
recommended 25-35 grams of fiber per day. But if you’re willing to add beans
and whole-fiber cereal to your daily intake, it’s not tough to reach the goal. Here’s what
you need to know:
 Read the fine print. A package of multigrain JJ Flats Breadflats lists unbleached,
enriched wheat flour as the first ingredient. But scan the nutrition facts label and
you’ll learn that one serving has less than a gram of dietary fiber—no better than
a saltine. That’s because wheat flour, enriched flour and degerminated corn meal
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are not whole grains. Aim instead for products that list whole wehat, whole
cornmeal, whole oats, whole rye, cracked wheat, whole barley, bulgur, brown
rice, popcorn, oatmeal or graham flour as the first label ingredients.
Breakfast like a whole-fiber champion with whole-grain cereals. Just eating a
bowl of the right cereal can get you halfway to your daily goal. Half a cup of
General mills Fiber One has 14 grams of fiber. Eat a cup of Kellogg’s Raisin
Bran, Post’s 100 Percent Bran or Post’s Shredded Wheat ‘N Bran and you’ll get 8
grams of fiber—eight times the amount found in the same amount of corn flakes.
Can’t stomach a whole bowl of high-fiber bran cereals? Mix one-quarter cup on
top of your regular cereal for a fiber boost. And don’t forget oatmeal. About one
cup of cooked oatmeal will give you 2 grams of soluble fiber and two grams of
insoluble fiber.
Reach for the beans. They’re loaded with fiber, up to 17 grams per cup, another
boost toward that daily goal. A few good options: hummus, a Middle Eastern
favorite made from garbanzo beans (6 grams of fiber per half-cup); baked beans
(6.5 grams per half-cup) or a bean burrito (about 6 to 8 grams of fiber) with a corn
tortilla (for an extra gram of fiber).
Eat a baked potato. A medium baked potato with the skin provides 5 grams of
fiber.
Switch from white bread to whole wheat. Just that one change alone will give
you up to 2 grams more fiber ser slice.
Snack on berries. A cup of raspberries (8 grams of fiber) has four times more
than a slice of whole-wheat bread. Blackberries are a close second, with 7 grams
per cup.
Rate your fiber intake. Log on to the American institute for cancer Research Web
site at aircr.donortrust.com/include/BookformReadOnline/fiberfacts.htm.